I am Therapy Gecko. I’ve talked to 1000s of anonymous strangers on the phone about their lives while wearing a gecko costume, and it all started here on reddit. AMA.

Which calls do you enjoy more - the entertaining ones or the ones that people can really relate to?

As someone who has never called in, I'd be interested to hear more about the process of that and how you feel that so many people tell you they've tried many tens of times calling

Thank you for what you do!

A lot of the clips of the show that go viral are about stuff that's wild or shocking, and while I do find that stuff entertaining I've been more interested lately in the calls that touch on things that people can relate to.

Even if the subjects get a little heavy I find them way more fascinating to talk through. I particularly like when there's an arc of some kind, like hearing how a person felt one particular way about something or someone, and then later felt a different way, or changed somehow.

It's especially interesting if they change how they feel about something while they're on the phone with me just as a result of them talking about the thing out loud.

Do you worry that the calls will become less authentic as you gain popularity and people want to be on the show?

Which guest do you think was the best geck?

What do mama and papa geck think of your show?

I'm not worried about that. I think the excitement of being on the show wears off for people after about 2 minutes and then they're just talking to a guy.

My parents are into it. My dad actually talks in twitch chat every so often.

Who's your favourite Pokémon?

Psyduck. I respect how he deals with being in constant pain.

How was it having Dr Drew dress up as a Gecko with you? Was he able to offer pointers on how to be a therapy gecko?

I've been doing this for about 2 years and have no degree in anything related to psychology and he's been doing it for about 30 years and has a medical degree, so that episode was a lot of me shutting up and listening.

It was interesting to watch the way he was able to get into whatever the caller's "thing" was, address it, then move on so quickly without any fluff.

Hi Lyle, I'm someone who got on the show Nov 2020 and I just want to say that it was a lot of fun, thanks for taking my call!

My question is how do you see Therapy Gecko changing over time? Do you have any ideas about changing, or expanding the show, or are you happy with the current format long term? Thanks!

I want to do a lot more talking to people in person instead of phone calls, and I want to do it all over the world.

Just did Mexico City!

You got any cool facts about Geckos?

Geckos can stick to any surface except teflon.

Are you happy?

Sometimes. I'm at my happiest when I'm mindful of everything I have to be grateful for, and staying happy for me is about trying not to stray too hard from that gratefulness.

Ideally I'd love to be happy just being naked on the beach with no money or friends or family or possessions, but that's some enlightenment shit that I am super super super not at.

Who’s your car insurance provider?

Allstate.

have you ever cried while transformed as gecko?

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love you gecko

I've cried on the show a couple of times.

Once when a girl called in and told me her brother had died recently and she didn't know how to cope with it. I had no idea what to tell her so I stole the greatest thing I've ever heard on dealing with grief and told it to her, and we cried together.

Another time someone read me a letter that he wrote for his aunt who had passed away, and I was really moved by it and started crying.

About a year later that guy came up to me after one of my live shows and was like "Hey I'm the caller who wrote the letter to his aunt, do you remember me?" and I said yes and my eyes actually started watering on the spot just remembering it. Very surreal moment.

Quick, your show isn't called Therapy Gecko anymore. What's it called now?

I always wanted to call it Gecko Chat. It's more about chatting than therapy.

What’s the most memorable conversation you’ve had as a gecko therapist?

I had a guy call in to talk to me about what life is like having only one testicle. I asked if he had ever met anyone else who only had one testicle and he said he hadn't.

I just so happened to have someone else on hold who also only had one testicle and brought them both on to the show to bond with each other. It was a beautiful moment.

EDIT: here it is.

Have you ever had someone call in who you genuinely felt that the best thing for them to do would be talk to a professional? If so roughly what was going on?

All the time. When that happens it goes like this:

Have you spoken to a real therapist about this? If no, then you really need to go do that. If yes, what did they tell you?

Then I'll just talk to them about their interpretation of what their real therapist told them. If they haven't seen one and it's a really really bad thing I've ended plenty of conversations by saying they need to do that before they call me.

Hey Lyle, What are some of your favourite moments from Aqua Teen Hunger Force?

When Carl is trying to sell the aqua teen's house and tells markula that the gas leak is going to kill anyone who tries to live there. Also any of the Spacecataz openings.

Very pumped for the new movie.

Has anyone ever given you a hard time for not having a psychology degree or anything that certified you to give therapy? If so any specific examples that stand out?

Just a few random internet commenters here and there, but surprisingly I get a ton of positive feedback all the time from real therapists.

I've had a few DM me and be like "Did you know you're actually doing (x-therapy technique) when you had this conversation?" and I was like I did not! And then i read about it. it's interesting.

what's a topic or question someone asked that you weren't prepared for?

Generally when people reflect questions that I ask them back over to me, I am not prepared to answer them. In my personal life even I'm usually more comfortable talking about the other person in a conversation than I am myself.

Though I feel like I should be able to answer a question that I'm expecting other people to answer, right? I am answering a question right now though, so I feel like less of a hypocrite. I am a gecko.

Related - as an unlicensed therapist, have you ever felt over your head, or like you hurt more than you helped?

I feel in over my head constantly.

Have you had any calls that impacted you in such a way to make you change the way you live your life ?

A guy called in and told me he was diagnosed with a disease that will ensure he loses his sight in the next 5 years or so, and told me that since he was diagnosed he makes an extra effort to really look at people's faces more.

Now whenever I find myself on my phone at the grocery store check out line I think of that caller and I put my phone away and stare at the old lady in front of me.

Since you started 2 years ago, have you considered becoming licensed? Or would the act of doing so diminish the casual nature of your show?

I really really briefly vaguely considered the idea once, then I looked up how many years of school it would take and decided it's much easier to be a pretend therapist.

How has your life changed financially, have you “made it” now per say? Congratulations on the success

I am lucky enough that if I am walking down the street and I see a truck selling sandwiches, and I want a sandwich, I will go buy a sandwich.

I noticed you’re straight faced on calls often. Would you say it’s mostly due to being part of the character, trying not to say something smart-assy, or just to place a silence that the caller feels they need to fill too see what’s said next? Keep it up Geck! I’ve been a fan for years and try to watch whenever I can!

I came from the stand up comedy world initially and that world is all about trying to say a smart-assy quipy thing as much as you can. There are people who are really really good at that and I found I never quite was.

For me I've found doing that has just interrupted the flow of the conversations I'm having, so I quiet the voice in my head that has an urge to do that, and now the voice is no longer there.

Also thank you for the kind words!!

I saw one of your shows in LA and it was a blast. The one where the dude called in about jerking off in every bathroom on his campus.

Near the end of the show, you asked for someone over 30 to come up. I hadn’t raised my hand to come up before, but in that moment, I knew that my time had come. I shot my hand up, only to be completely overshadowed by the very tall man in front of me. You picked him, Lyle. You picked him without sparing me a glance.

The tall guy ended up being a far better pick than I would have been. I gave him a sick high five when he came back to his seat.

Next time im in LA come thru!!

How often do you wash your gecko suit? Do you have just the one or do you have multiple?

Not as often as I should. I currently have 5 in rotation.

I crept around the side I watched you half obscured thru a window at bonnaroo.

Would you say that people are usually pretty aware of what their issues are? And if so what do you think stops them from getting help/working on them.

Dude there's such a large gap between being aware of your issues and taking actual action to solve them. I am no expert in closing that gap.

I know I need to stop eating giant fucking bags of twizzlers but i dont know if i'm going to any time soon.

Hey thank you guys for all your questions!!! None of what I do would have been possible without Reddit and i feel very at home here.

Thanks to anyone who listens to the show, it's been a weird and wild journey that i feel very honored to go on. Geck bless you all, see you out on the internet and in the universe.

PS: if you've never heard the show before here's a place to start.

Why is your face still not red? Will never got the answer he deserved.

Because it would look really, really scary.

How long does it take to get the green off, and is it just like… everywhere at your place? Lol

For as long as I have been doing this there has been, at all times, at least a little bit of green on my face.

Okay seriously, how cool is Marc Rebillet in person?

Very cool.

Have you ever gotten in trouble for practicing being a gecko without a licence?

No and if I do I'm showing up to court in the suit.

Do you remember Alex that thought his aunt wanted to fuck him? It was a couple months back. I just want you to know that I know Alex and he's exactly the same in real life. Hilarious guy and we all enjoyed you talking to him

I could never forget Alex.

How hot was that costume at Bonnaroo before the storm cooled everything off?

Man I have been in that costume in the heat of Bonnaroo, in the desert of Arizona, and in many other hot ass places, and to be honest it has never really been that bad.

It actually functions as a heat cloak sort of.

Hey lyle, love your show.

Before becoming the gek, would you say any particular aspect of your previous life experience helped with how you are able to talk with so many people with the kind of openness/wit that you bring when taking calls?

I had a small period of time in college where I was kind of obsessed with talking to strangers on public transport and in line at stores and shit like that.

I was also really into the idea of trying to have deeper conversations, and during that time I learned that the more vulnerable I was willing to be with people the more vulnerable they were willing to be back.

who’s your favourite guest you’ve had on the show ? do you have a dream guest you’d like to bring on one day ?

Every guest I've had on brings something unique to the table.

I'll say this: Zack Fox has this great ability to meet people where they're at when they're trying to explain something. He is a very "Yes and" kind of a guy, which is probably my favorite trait for a person to have.

Is there something specific that led you to your style of content. Specifically, it is one thing to want to do a podcast/internet show, but doing a public access-style call-in show is not something most people are thinking about or want to do. Was there a particular reason you wanted to go this route?

Before I did this I spent a really really long time doing stand up and making typical short comedy film type things.

Since falling into the call-in show, I've become a lot more interested in what I can discover out in the world than in what I can write myself.

Interesting. Honestly it’s very admirable from the perspective of a performer. It’s easy to become self absorbed and forget how much value you can get by just engaging and listening and shutting up sometimes. Do you still do any solo work or is the Gecko all-consuming? Hope you don’t mind the follow up.

For now the gecko is all consuming but who knows what the future holds!!

Who is your favorite Marvel character?

Spiderman. I think it is cool that he can shoot cum from his hands.

Lyle! I’ve followed you for so long, didn’t know you were doing this. My question is, are you happy being a gecko all the time? Does the paint affect your skin at all? What would Lyle 5 years ago think of him being a gecko on the internet, and what will Lyle 5 years in the future be doing?

Thank you for your amazing podcast, your vibrations are extremely chill. I would love to call you but I am from Ireland so idk how that would work.

Actually one of my greatest tools to happiness is thinking about what me 5 years ago would think about what I'm doing now. I'd have probably thought that all of my problems were solved, and I'd have been wrong. So I keep that in mind when I'm thinking about my future nowadays.

Anyway how are things going in Ireland?

I remember seeing you on Reddit thinking you were another weirdo. Now I'm a genuine fan!

Were there any podcasters or journalist you were inspired by to start this? Cause theres many times I've noticed you use a few techniques my fav podcasters use in their interviews.

Also as a fellow Marylander was dope seeing you and Logic together! If this tour works out would you consider coming to Baltimore again?

Yes! Huge shout out to Chris Gethard, who hosts Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People, which is similar to TG except he talks to one caller for one hour.

I was big into Chris's stuff when I was in high school and college. He followed me back on Instagram recently and we had a brief chat. It was a cool moment.

yo lyle, love the show!

Are you able to earn enough from twitch and youtube to make a living? If so how did that happen? How is it being an entertainer instead of doing a "normal" job? would you recommend people to try and follow their entertainer dreams?

I am and it happened fairly quickly thanks to Twitch making it easy to monetize streaming.

I would totally recommend people try to follow their entertainer dreams especially if those dreams are to be able to make a living. There truly has never been this much of an opportunity to do so than ever before and I see new people being able to do it every day.

What encouraged you to start doing more of the outdoors/live aspect of it, rather than just the phone line?

I personally enjoy doing the outdoor stuff more, I really enjoy the energy of being out of my house and in a place.

I believe we share a hometown! So my question is: fuck, marry, kill: Ottobar, Metro Gallery, the Crown?

I've actually never been to Metro Gallery or The Crown but I've heard cool things!

If I threw you at the wall or window. Would you stick?

What type of Gecko are you?

I think I'm a day gecko

How much of the calls do you think people are making stuff up? Or do you figure most people are being genuine.

It doesn't matter to me if people are making things up because:

1. even if they are, maybe someone is listening who really does have that thing going on with them.

2. even if they are, it doesn't affect my actual experience of hearing their story.

Love me some therapy gecko!!

How do you think the timing of starting this up helped or hindered the project?

For me, I think starting around the pandemic was genius, since a bunch of us were stuck inside and feeling all sorts of feels, so I think it touched on a cultural nerve to some degree at an opportune time.

It was really perfect timing. On a personal level, because of the pandemic I had nothing to do but focus on this thing, so I was able to give it a level of focus I'd never given any project I'd worked on before.

Then of course on an outside level, streaming became way more popular because of the pandemic. I actually have no idea what I'd be doing if the pandemic didn't happen. Maybe I would be driving a truck.

Do you put on the green makeup every time you go live? Isn’t that such a chore

It is, but there are plenty of people who put on makeup before they go into work.

Which guests seemed to enjoy being a gecko most? Who seemed the most uncomfortable?

The first hour of each guest stream is usually uncomfortable followed by the second hour being amazing.

Hey Geck! I found your content on Reddit early into the pandemic - your show got me through a lot of tough quarantines and kept me sane, so many thanks!

Question - where would you have seen yourself if you hadn’t became successful doing what you’re doing? Any things you hope to accomplish now that you have made it big?

hey thank you catman.

realistically I'd probably be doing some sort of very boring social media marketing business thing, or I'd be doing some sort of Workaway thing where you work on a farm in some remote place in exchange for a bed. I'd have figured something out, i think.

How was Bonnaroo? I saw after that you were there, was a little upset I missed you!

It was insane. After a long time of doing this thing alone in a tiny room, I was very tripped out to see all these real human beings that listen to it.

Does talking to callers about their issues help you work through your own? If not, do you have your own sort of Therapy Gecko?

All the time. There are a lot of topics that people call in about that are things I deal with myself, and when I'm talking to them about it it's almost like I'm talking to myself.

Lots of times when I get in my own head about something, I think "Well shit you told that caller this thing, so you should really follow your own advice here."

Some people say you stole your show idea from ToadPhd who was doing the online advice show before your show. ToadPhd also paints his face green and gives advice to people who call in to his show. What do you have to say about these allegations?

I think a world where Therapy Gecko and ToadPhD co-exist is possible.

In fact we're living in it right now.

Ah yes the gecko is on reddit, when do u plan on smoking Crack?

Not sure. I've heard it's pretty great though.

That time you smoked weed on stream from a place where it’s totally legal to do that, I didn’t see any smoke. Were you really smoking or were you just pretending?

I have smoked weed on stream probably 3 times total and I regret it every time. Weed gets me very in my head which is not good when you're trying to be present with people, but can be very good if you're trying to be reflective.

In your old streams you would always say "I love you" to the caller at the end, why did you stop?

Felt weird, got misinterpreted. I think "I appreciate you" is a better term, because I really do genuinely appreciate the people calling and listening and watching. Not sure if I love them.

Would you ever do a tour or a couple shows in England? As an english fan i’m sure me and lots of others would love to come to a show here!!

I would love to do a Europe thing and hope to in 2023

What's your catch phrase?

Woah ho ho!

What do you feel will be your biggest challenge with your upcoming tour?

The tour consists of bringing random members of the audience on stage to be interviewed, so I have no idea at all what I'll be getting into at each stop, which is very challenging.

That said I'm very excited for the challenge and I think it's cool that each show will be uniquely different.

Watch anime?? If so why is One Piece your favorite ?

Ironically the only anime I ever watched was Sgt. Frog.

you ever miss doing Cave?

All the time, Cave was the coolest thing ever. I still sometimes listen to the playlist from it.

I know you! Anyways my question is, why a gecko?

Why not a gecko?